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Meowth Line/FRLG
Meowth can be found in the following areas: Route 5 (35%), Route 6 (35%), Route 7 (40%), Route 8 (30%), Bond Bridge (10%), Cape Brink (10%), Kindle Road (10%), Treasure Beach (10%). Persian can be found in the following areas: Bond Bridge (5%), Cape Brink (5%), Kindle Road (5%), Treasure Beach (5%). Ah, Meowth. Despite it being a recurring character in the anime, there isn't much special about it in the games. It's another common Normal type with the usual common-Normal-type problems (and pretty low Attack to boot), but it does have a good Speed stat to work with. Its most unique asset is Pay Day, which gets you extra money upon winning a battle; other than that, there isn't much reason to use it over other Normal types, especially those with better Attack. Important Matchups be filled in from txt file later Gym #3/Lt. Surge/Electric Type: '''You won't have Persian for this fight unless you're seriously overleveled, meaning that you're stuck with Meowth's bad stats against opponents whose signature tactic is a never-missing STAB move. It is highly advisable NOT to use Meowth, because it most certainly can't outdamage Surge's Pokemon. The least inadvisable course of action for it in this Gym is to go after Voltorb, because at least that doesn't have Double Team to make things even harder. '''Gym #4/Erika/Grass Type: '''You should absolutely have a Persian by the time you walk into this Gym. Against Victreebel, Persian requires an Attack stat of 70 (for reference, this translates to an Attack-boosting Nature, a perfect Attack IV, AND 132 Attack EVs simultaneously) to make full-power Return a guaranteed 2HKO (not accounting for Giga Drain recovery). In return, it requires a minimum Special Defense stat of 47 to avoid the 2HKO from Victreebel's Giga Drain. Long story short, it's an uphill battle, but there is potential there if you can keep Persian's health up and have patience. Just avoid getting paralyzed if at all possible; Persian requires being able to go first to minimize the time it spends taking hits in fights like this. Persian can also grind out a victory against Tangela, because of the latter's lower level and overall weaker attacking prowess. It will be slow going, though, because of Ingrain, Giga Drain recovery, and Tangela's beefy base Defense compared to Persian's anemic base Attack. Vileplume is difficult for Persian to handle because of its natural bulk and proclivity for spreading status (Effect Spore isn't in play, but it has both Stun Spore and Sleep Powder; be wary). However, the best its Giga Drain can do is 3HKO Persian. With patience, again, you could win with Return if you need to. But why would you use Persian when there are so many Flying and Fire types available as alternatives? '''Gym #5/Koga/Poison Type: '''Persian is pretty ineffective against the double Koffing and the ace Weezing; even with perfect IVs in both HP and Defense (or equivalent EVs), the Koffing's Selfdestruct stands a chance of OHKOing Persian on a non-critical hit; Persian's Return is only a 2HKO with high Attack IVs, or equivalent EVs. This doesn't even account for all his accuracy shenanigans with Smokescreen and potential poison damage. Against Muk, Return does barely outdamage Sludge in most cases, but that calculation is overly optimistic. Koga's Muk loves to spam Minimize, giving it the advantage over the long haul, not to mention the possibility of it boosting its own Defense with Acid Armor and/or inflicting Toxic Poison. All told, Persian isn't too useful in this Gym. '''Fighting Dojo (Saffron City): '''This dungeon is a big, fat, all-caps "NO!" for Persian. Every single opposing Pokemon in this building has at least one Fighting move and an Attack stat that outranks Persian's pitiful base Defense (yes, even the Mankey). 'Gym #6/Sabrina/Psychic Type: '''Believe it or not, a Persian with a Nature that doesn't affect Attack needs only 8 Attack EVs to make Shadow Ball an absolutely guaranteed OHKO against Kadabra (assuming you leveled for Alakazam, because why wouldn't you). That's totally doable. No amount of EV training can guarantee the OHKO against Mr. Mime, though. Its Psybeam isn't really a concern, that being a guaranteed 3HKO against most Persian; the real danger comes if it uses Barrier on turn one. If that Defense boost comes into play, then Persian absolutely needs a maximum damage roll to maintain the 2HKO. And that two-shot is a crucial one, since you absolutely do not want it to Baton Pass even that one boost to another Pokemon. Long story short, you need a bit of luck to get past Mr. Mime perfectly. Venomoth cannot do meaningful damage to Persian, and a mere 28 Attack EVs guarantee the 2HKO with Return. Persian and Alakazam mutually 2HKO with Shadow Ball and Psychic respectively (not considering Calm Mind); the difference is, Alakazam is faster (unless Persian has a middling or higher Speed IV ''and a Speed boosting Nature) and knows Recover. As such, this is a risky move for Persian, since Alakazam could, in principle, stack up boosts with relative impunity thanks to Recover, then obliterate Persian with boosted Psychic (it only needs two Calm Minds to OHKO all Persian). '''Gym #7/Blaine/Fire type: First of all, you should not use Water Pulse in this Gym. Despite it being super effective, it barely outdamages STAB Secret Power and is outperformed by STAB Return. With that out of the way, Growlithe and Arcanine both carry Intimidate to make your life even harder. With 132 Attack EVs and a Nature that doesn't affect Attack, you can guarantee Return's 2HKO on Growlithe through Intimidate. Its Fire Blast is also a 2HKO unless you've got 60 Special Defense EVs; it can also burn you, which will completely ruin your chances at being effective, so be careful. Against Ponyta, you're guaranteed to 2HKO with uninvested Return, and aren't 2HKOed in return unless you have a Special Defense-reducing Nature or a 0 IV in that stat. Rapidash is harder to take down, as you need full Special Defense investment plus either a Nature boost or an IV of three or higher to completely avoid the 2HKO from its Fire Blast. However, the magic number of 132 Attack EVs guarantees your own 2HKO with Return; you're also guaranteed to be faster than it. Therefore, you should only take on Rapidash with Persian if you have near-full health, haven't experienced an Intimidate Attack drop, and aren't burned; Persian also isn't a safe switch-in for Rapidash. Similar arguments hold true for Arcanine; if you've already sustained a stat drop, you cannot win against it. If you've taken too much prior damage, you cannot win against it. If you're burned, you most certainly can't win. In terms of calculations, Arcanine can still 2HKO Persian with Fire Blast even if you have full Special Defense investment, a perfect 31 Special Defense IV, and a Special Defense boosting Nature, while Return doesn't even approach a 2HKO unless you have an Attack boosting Nature and a high Attack IV with full investment (and this doesn't even consider Intimidate!). Therefore, it is best to use another teammate against Blaine's Arcanine. Elite Four Bruno/Fighting Type: This is a battle where even lovers of Persian have to admit that using it is a horrible idea. Only Water Pulse will do any damage whatsoever to his two Onix (and why would you be using Water Pulse Persian at this point in the game otherwise?), and his Fighting types' STAB moves will either outright kill your Persian or bring it to the edge of death. Please find another option for this fight. Moves The lowest-level Meowth that can be caught in the wild are Level 10; they will know Scratch and Growl upon capture. At Level 11, Meowth learns Bite, which is a useful crutch against Ghost types if for some reason you don't splurge for Shadow Ball upon reaching Celadon City. Pay Day, Meowth's closest thing to a redeeming quality, comes at Level 20. If you need a never-missing move on your team... well, there's definitely better options than Faint Attack off of Meowth's Special Attack, but it learns that at Level 28 if you're desperate. The next new move is Screech at Level 38, which isn't the best move for Persian given its paper-thin defenses and the move's imperfect accuracy. Skip Fury Swipes at Level 46; it wouldn't be worth learning at Level 15. And to add insult to injury, two useful moves, Slash and Fake Out, come at Levels 53 and 59 respectively. Persian's TM learnset is actually quite expansive; it's just too bad that its base Special Attack is 65. Otherwise moves like Thunderbolt and Water Pulse might be interesting. One noteworthy option is Secret Power, which is more powerful than any STAB move Persian learns by leveling up before the endgame. Also, it is obligatory to mention Return, even though it's more or less wasted on Persian thanks to that base 70 Attack (compare to Snorlax and Dodrio, for example). Shadow Ball is also an obligatory mention, especially since it's renewable in these games; it's Persian's best option against Psychic and Ghost Pokemon, and gives it the slightest chance to be useful in boss battles and dungeons that focus on those types. Other potentially useful moves are Iron Tail (which is woefully lacking in accuracy, which something as frail as Persian really doesn't appreciate), Dig '(there are so many better potential users of this move it isn't funny), and '''Aerial Ace '(same situation as Dig). Recommended Moveset: Return, Shadow Ball, Dig, Fake Out/Pay Day Recommended Teammates * 'Bulky Pokemon: '''Persian's defenses are bad. It can't take more than one or two hits at a time without its Trainer having to fear for its life, assuming it's facing an opponent of equal level. Therefore, it's a very good idea for you to have Pokemon that can take strong hits on your team if you're insistent on using Persian. ** ''Good examples of this kind of Pokemon include: Blastoise, Tentacruel, Vaporeon, Golem, Slowbro, Snorlax, Hypno, Weezing, Gyarados, Lapras * 'Powerful Sweepers/Wallbreakers: '''Persian doesn't have the raw power to break through bulky opponents, especially since its Normal STAB moves aren't super effective against anything. Its teammates should be able to help it dispose of those hard-to-hurt enemies. ** ''Good examples of this kind of Pokemon include: Charizard, Arcanine, Alakazam, Machamp, Victreebel, Magneton, Dodrio, Gengar, Exeggutor, Tauros, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Starmie, Gyarados, Jolteon Other tables here * '''What Nature do I want? Attack-boosting Natures are easily the best option for Persian, since its bulk is subpar no matter what and its Speed doesn't really benefit from a boost. You don't want to decrease it, necessarily, though. So, optimal outcomes are Lonely, Adamant, and Naughty. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? As soon as possible; Meowth is even worse than Persian. Level 28 should come somewhere between Lt. Surge and Erika for most playthroughs. * How good is the Meowth line in a Nuzlocke? Not very. Its stats imply that its ideal role is "annoyer," but it doesn't get any moves to fulfill that role with until it's too late for them to make a difference for the run as a whole. So, it's relegated to being a frail, speedy physical attacker without much "oomph." It absolutely needs significant amounts of team support to be a fully functional team member. * '''Weaknesses: '''Fighting * '''Resistances: '''None * '''Immunities: '''Ghost * '''Neutralities: '''Normal, Fire, Grass, Water, Electric, Bug, Poison, Flying, Rock, Ground, Psychic, Dragon, Dark, Ice, Steel star ratings Availability: 4* Matchups: 1.5* Movepool: 1.5* Survivability: 2* Type Usefulness: 3* Team Role: 2* Offensive Utility: 2* Defensive Utility: 2* Tankiness: 1.5* Fun Factor: 2* Overall: 2* Category:FireRed/LeafGreen